Bidding Farewell to the Shepherd's Gazebo

If you’re like me, you’ve looked at the view from the Dining Hall Porch hundreds of times and never thought much about the history of Shepherd’s Gazebo. What you might not know is that generations of campers would’ve been familiar with a big hemlock tree in that spot instead of the Shepherd’s Gazebo. The tree was huge, with a canopy of branches that reached high above the Pageant Court, and it was used by campers as a fort and place to play. When the hemlock became diseased and started to die, campers were sad - it had been a focal point of camp for a long time! In 2000, Herb Thornton built the Shepherd’s Gazebo around the trunk of the old hemlock, keeping some of the branches for structural support.

The Shepherd’s Gazebo was named for the handmade benches with the 23rd Psalm inscribed on them. It was used for some classes, like Bible and sign language, and was a good place for to meet up for Prayer Warriors or have a DMC. The Shepherd’s Gazebo has been much beloved for years, but some structural concerns were recently brought up by our Maintenance Team. Following a beautiful 15 inches of snow this past week, the Shepherd’s Gazebo collapsed, the hemlock branch base unable to hold the weight of the snow. Fortunately, the beautiful handmade benches made it through just fine. While we’re sad to see this iconic building go, we’re excited for the new possiblities that this space holds.

As we near the Hundredth, we’re reminded of what makes this place so special - the buildings of camp come and go. They are added, subtracted, changed. (Pavilion expansion, anyone?) Camp is not made of buildings, but people. As someone who spends a lot of time at camp when not very many other people are here, believe me when I say that, without the laughter and conversations of campers and staff, camp is just a place. When we talk about “the bubble,” we’re talking about the feeling of being with friends who show Christ’s love to us. We love our camp spaces because of the memories created within them, not because of the spaces themselves.

It’s been a special hundred years with our beloved hemlock that then became the Shepherd’s Gazebo. As we look to the next hundred, we are excited to see how the Lord continues to use camp and the spaces that become special to us.